English crack team with tense tackle (9)
I believe the answer is:
equipment
'tackle' is the definition.
(tackle can mean equipment or gear)
'english crack team with tense' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'crack' becomes 'quip' (both can mean a joke).
'team' becomes 'men' (group of people).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'tense' becomes 't' (abbreviation used in many dictionaries).
'e'+'quip'+'men'+'t'='EQUIPMENT'
(Other definitions for equipment that I've seen before include "Apparatus, gear" , "Apparatus, tools" , "Set of instruments that perform a service" , "fitting" , "outfit" .)